Trail-Cam Photos: Hit Deer Do Survive

Posted At : April 26, 2012 12:19 PM | Posted By : Mike Hanback
Related Categories: Big Deer Blog

In yesterday’s post I talked about Nugent grazing a bear w/an arrow: This happens in the real world of hunting. Responsible people shoot over or under animals (with arrows and bullets), nick them, look for hours and determine that the animal is not mortally wounded. And so they go back to hunting. I have done it; you have done it.

This prompted Silverback to send me these pictures: Mike,I got this buck on my trail cam last year (not my shot). But it shows that even a seemingly hard hit is not fatal.

Notice the second picture was taken 4 days after the first--the buck looks good and the wound is healing quickly. Unless an infection set it, this buck is fine now.

Silverback and I show these pics as evidence that deer are tough and resilient, with an amazing survival capacity. They in no way pardon poor shooting. Any way you look at it, this unknown hunter made a terrible shot, whether the little buck jumped the string or not. comment

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If you haven't shot at, missed, or wounded an animal then I would bet your hunting career has been minimal or dismal at best. All (most) hunters have shot and missed, I admit it I have shot and missed.

# Posted By Austin Manelick | 4/26/12 12:58 PM

Everyone misses at sometime or another. Hopefully, it is a clean miss. Although not always. My question is why would someone even shoot at a buck of this size. He's a year and a half old with good genes. People complain about no big bucks and then shoot at little guys like this.

# Posted By Rodger | 4/26/12 1:18 PM

Rodger, this is in NJ. The average age of a buck killed in NJ is 1 1/2 years. Our herd is huge and the problem is some people dont want to shoot does (no me, I love shooting does). That being said, there are alot of hunters that dont hunt alot and take advantge of any opportuntiy. There are a few zones that have a 3 point on one side rule, this area does not because of the population size of both the deer and the people.

# Posted By Silverback | 4/26/12 1:58 PM

Hunt long enough and you're going to miss or make a poorer shot and wound your quarry. Only someone whom has not recovered an animal after the shot knows the feeling. Only a sportsmen never forgets it

# Posted By BigDaddy | 4/26/12 3:04 PM

I my opinion, sometime SHI* happens. But as long as you put in dedicated time and resources, you have done right by the animal you shot at. (and by dedicated, I mean at least two full days of looking and (resources) bringing as many friends as you can with you) EVEN IF IT IS A DOE.

# Posted By Silverback | 4/26/12 3:31 PM

I agree with Silverback, always exhaust all options before moving on. Good to know this buck is going to make it! Everybody misses, just part of it!

# Posted By Ben | 4/26/12 3:52 PM

They are tough animals thats for sure.

Roger, In my state as well the average age of a buck killed is 1.5 year old. We have tons of hunters here in MI and lots of State land thatgets hit very hard. For a lot of years when i hunted state ground you killed bucks like this because in most areas thats about all
there is. Now days i choose to pass on bucks like this cuz we hunt our own property that is surrounded by other private and we
can be more selective but in a lot of area's where guys hunt thats all you have to shoot.

# Posted By Scott from MI | 4/26/12 4:23 PM

i've shot and missed. it happens to all of us. no matter how much you practice and how good you are things happen sometimes.

i have to disagree with the post when he asked why shoot a deer of this size. any deer with a bow in my opinion is a trophy no matter what the size of the rack or if it has a rack at all. we all dream about shooting a 12 point 150+.... but not all of us have the means and luck to do so. it's been stated many times on this site that the experience and the thrill of the hunt is what's important. 90% of the bloggers on here will agree and have agreed with that. was looking back at some old bow hunting magazines that were produced before i was born. they would let people send in pics of themselves with game they had taken. you didn't see any deer in there that would push 130 but for some odd reason everyone in the photos had a big smile on their face. (stepping off my box now)

# Posted By dan - n.e. kansas | 4/26/12 4:35 PM

Why people don't shoot does instead of small bucks is a mystery to me. Good eatin and a lot easier to hunt.

# Posted By Rodger | 4/26/12 6:51 PM

people must sit under the "small rack" deer trees instead of the doe trees. what's a mystery to me is the hang up on the size of deer i decide to shoot causes other people to get upset. the hunter gets to make that decision in my opinion. that being said, i respect your decision not to shoot a deer the size of the one in the photo, but i don't agree with you saying something is wrong with someone who does.

and if a doe is easier to hunt you must be hunting them from 300 yards away. a doe will save the life of a big buck more often than not. an old doe is sometimes a lot more wise than the big boy is. kind of that way in the human world as well.

but back to the point of the blog. deer are amazing creatures that are the ultimate survivor. cold, wet, wind, and rain. these animals find a way to survive.

# Posted By dan - n.e. kansas | 4/26/12 8:24 PM

It happens, thats for sure. But if it didnt then it wouldn't be called huntin it would be called killin. And if you ask me a trophy is in the eyes of the beholder. Not everybody is hunting a boone and crocket. I pass spikes but thats about it. I work six days a week so when the oppurtunity presents itself i take it. Im not saying a booner wouldnt be nice. Thats what everybody wants. But im happy with any deer i put my hands on. And if im putting my hands on them thats because i as a hunter made that choice to harvest that deer. Nobody made it for me.

# Posted By Hunter, Nc | 4/26/12 11:11 PM

So you miss a deer, so what? How many actually walk up to the spot where the deer was standing and look to see if you missed the vitals but hit the liver or other organs? But do you do it every time? Every year when out shed hunting, we, as shed hunters, come across our share of deer that have been killed other than natural means. Some years, there is more than others. The hunter should make all means necessary to confirm any/all shots are complete misses, or in my case "near misses." Sometimes it takes more than one set of eyes to see something out of place. If you are an ethical hunter, you'll do the right thing.

# Posted By Wayne SFSD | 4/27/12 9:00 AM

Wayne, your point is well taken (and I think this would be a another great topic for a new post Mike). I would bet a lot of those deer you find are more a product for being pushed on a bad shot vs. not being looked for at all. If you pull a bad shot on a deer gun or bow and you start tracking to soon and jump it, you have just up'ed the % of losing it by another 40% or so. I help with a lot of tracking with friends and family amd I am a dectective when it comes to recovering deer. Where do you hit it? how did it react? Did you fing the arrow? What does the blood look like (dark, bubbly,ect), how far did hit go? and on and on. And that decision to hold off 4 to 8 hours is a huge difference in recovering bad hit deer.

# Posted By Silverback | 4/27/12 11:51 AM

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